For every chess player, this story is all too familiar. The truth is 'Everyone makes mistakes! ...but only champions learn from them.' Here are two videos that are particularly helpful for minimising such errors in your game.
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Welcome to our chess club site! The club has been established for years . Originally 'The Lucas & Birmingham Settlement Chess Club' and 'The West Midlands Municipal Chess Club'. The two clubs merged in 2003 to form the Birmingham Settlement Chess Club. The Birmingham Settlement building that was used for a club room closed and we moved to St George's Church Russel house.
We have teams in Divisions 3 & 5 of the Birmingham and district chess league, and Divisions 1 & 2 of the Wolverhampton League. Our club caters for all standards from complete beginners to advanced players.
Our warm and friendly atmosphere for both competitive and leisure games is only matched with our love for the game! Visit us at Church Hall, St George's Church, Bridge Street West, Newtown, B19 2YX.
2 June 2015
How to stop making blunders during your chess game
For every chess player, this story is all too familiar. The truth is 'Everyone makes mistakes! ...but only champions learn from them.' Here are two videos that are particularly helpful for minimising such errors in your game.
Middlegame Training
Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.The famous words of Rudolf Spielmann. As we're well aware, chess mastery involves the mastery of all three phases of the game. With the acquisition of specific skills, a deeper understanding of the concept of chess is created.
For many, the middlegame has posed a challenge. With so many pieces on the board, the choice of moves are numerous and the risk of blunders abundant. To improve, players require the right system of thinking on finding the correct move. The study of 'irrelevant' chess literature can prove to be counterproductive; practice is important!
I came across this YouTube video series on Middlegame training. Have a go at all the days and see what you can learn.
19 February 2015
How to improve at chess for beginners
- Get a good chess program with audio/video tutorials: Depending on your learning preference (i.e. auditory, visual or kinesthetic) this could be the best tool at your disposal for chess development. The choice of program should also have lots of practice material.
- Focus on basic chess principles, laws, and concepts: Areas to work on include basic opening, basic endgames, basic checkmate patterns, the center, tactics, weaknesses, & outposts. You'll be amazed at your improvement.
- Play with stronger opponents: It feels really good to win. Chances are you'll lose a lot of games playing stronger opponents, but it's far more important to have a champion's mentality in all your games - a loss is nothing more than an opportunity to learn :)
- Have Fun: Pleasure is a far stronger motivating factor than pain. Enjoy what you do and you'll develop a lot faster.
7 February 2015
Member Rankings
Name | Standard | Previous |
Besedin, Pavel | 208 | 199 |
Padilla Cabero, Pablo | 192 | 191 |
Smyth, Martin D | 165 | 165 |
Draper, Adam GA | 164 | 160 |
Collier, Lee E | 162 | 155 |
Hope, Gary | 156 | 158 |
Osondu, Victor | 152 | 156 |
Lunn, John | 137 | 130 |
Bricknell, Rob | 135 | 133 |
Tallis, Mark E | 135 | 142 |
Maddocks, Phil | 133 | 139 |
Wise, Ken | 129 | 127 |
Stockhall, Derek A | 127 | 129 |
Johnson, Lennie | 122 | 123 |
McKeown, A | 117 | 120 |
Llewelyn, John D | 114 | 108 |
Griffin, Chris E | 106 | 112 |
Gough, Roy T | 100 | 101 |
Hodkinson, Peter | 100 | 102 |
Dyson, Phil | 93 | 99 |
Willmott, Les | 82 | 85 |
7 April 2012
Club Officials
Chris Griffin